Local preschool sows seeds of support for Long Marston gardens

Green fingered children from Long Marston Pre school and Playgroup have been busy sowing seeds, potting plants and watering with enthusiasm as preparations for the village’s bi-annual open gardens event get firmly underway.

The Long Marston Open Gardens event, which takes place on the weekend of 15th & 16th of June 2013, will see a variety of village gardens open to the public. These span country estate gardens, pond and wildflower gardens, tree and shrub gardens, a thatched cottage country garden, plus a wild garden featuring an array of stone carvings.

The playgroup children, who are having a Sunflower growing competition in support of the event, will also be creating an array of scarecrows which will form part of a scarecrow trail around the village during the weekend.

Refreshments will be served at the village school over both days of the event, with plants, preserves and gardening books all on sale. Long Marston Church will also be open to the public for the weekend and will include a collection of farming and gardening antiquities.

Parking will be available at four designated areas throughout the village with access for disabled visitors. Tickets cost £5 a day or £7.50 for a weekend pass with money raised from the event supporting the village hall, church, school and playgroup. More information can be found at www.longmarston.com.

Eileen Visser, member of the Open Gardens Organising Committee said: “Despite the challenges presented by this year’s wet weather, the last few weeks have seen our gardens transform into an array of colour. A lot of hard work has gone into preparing our gardens for view and as such we’re confident there will be something for both the seasoned and novice gardener alike.”

Penny Johnson, Long Marston Playgroup Leader, added: “The children have loved the opportunity to ‘muck in’ and support this fun community event, and we’ve linked our gardening activities to various areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage. We are very privileged to have a fantastic outdoor space for our children to use, which not only lends itself to lots of creative and sporting play, but community initiatives such as this.”

For more information about the preschool go to www.longmarstonplaygroup.co.uk.